The Hindu Business Line : SolidWorks hopes to add 250 new users

THE US-based SolidWorks Corporation hopes to add about 250 new users in India for its mechanical design software. The firm currently has about 1,000 users in various sectors, including automobiles, machinery, electronics and education, said a company official.

The company's products include SolidWorks Office, SolidWorks Office Professional and SolidWorks 2003. The per user licence fee of its software is $6,000 (Rs 2.7 lakh), he said.

Top Indian software companies like Infosys and Satyam use the company's products to design applications for their customers, Mr Ved Narayan, Director, Asia Pacific Operations, SolidWorks Corporation, told newspersons here on Thursday.

According to Mr Narayan, there is a shift among Indian manufacturing companies, especially the small and medium-size enterprises, in using mechanical design software that enables firms design products. The shift is towards 3D (three dimensional) computer-aided design (CAD) software from 2D. The Indian market for mechanical design is said to be about $25 million. Of this, the 3D-centric CAD is around $10 million.

The US-based SolidWorks is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the $1-billion Dassault Systems that develops and markets 3D CAD software for mechanical design, analysis and product data management. French firm, Dassault, acquired SolidWorks in 1997.

According to Mr Narayan, SolidWorks has identified Asia-Pacific, especially India, as a key potential market for its products. The APAC and Japan contribute about 30 per cent of SolidWorks' $165 million revenue, he said. Mr Narayan did not divulge country-specific numbers.

SolidWorks has a relationship with the Pune-based Geometric Software Solutions for its software development in India. With more growth and challenges, the company may consider expanding the relationship.